Whilst I can normally manage to cobble together one of those dreaded "Top 10" listings for some of the mailing lists or, just before Christmas, on the Sisters in Crime website, I hate doing them. It's such an arbitrary number, and doesn't even allow me the luxury of a favourite book per month. So instead, a few reminders to myself on what really stayed with me from last year's reading list of 135 books.

Wyatt is broke - and angry. The Mesics took his money a year ago. It's time to get it back.

The Outfit has other plans. They want Wyatt dead. $40,000 is a small price to pay to make it happen.

For Wyatt the street has become an extremely dangerous place - too dangerous to move in on the Mesics yet. He needs a different break. A bargain the Outfit can't refuse.

But Wyatt must also manoeuvre cops on the take - and an Outfit lieutenant with a gun in her hand and revenge on her mind.

Book Review:

CROSSKILL is another of my Wyatt series rereads - just because I want to.

This book, in particular, really takes on the bad guys. Wyatt may not immediately seem to have much of a moral conscience when it comes to taking other people's money - but he does think honour amongst thieves is important. Especially where his money is concerned.

As with all the Wyatt series, Wyatt plays a lone hand, with just a little help (and hindrance) from his friends. But when trouble arrives it hits him from all sides. Wyatt will, of course triumph in the end. There will be a bit of collateral damage, and some people just don't seem to realise that there are some enemies for life that you just don't want to make.

This series is just so good. Tight, clever and suspenseful writing combined with believable plotlines make for a very involving storyline. The slow reveal of small background points about Wyatt make him a very elusive character - for the reader as well as those in the story. It's actually a clever idea that - there's always some little pearl about Wyatt that drops in each book - giving the reader just a little bit more about the lonest of lone Australian fictional crime characters.

Blurb from the book

Nine tautly plotted stories of crime and detection ranging from the darkly dangerous to the frankly comical. All with young adult central characters - some authors have taken their own characters back to their childhood - others have created completely new characters.